Question about Columbus vs. Cincinnati (Cleveland, Louisville: crime, college, live in)

[Pathwalker]

Maybe I'm jealous, or maybe I'm just missing something - I don't know. But the population of the Cincinnati metro area is - well, relatively larger than the Columbus metro area - by about 370,000 people. That's a considerable chunk of population I'd say. Not as large a difference as, say, the difference between Cincinnati and Atlanta, certainly - but still, it's not piddly. So my question is, why does Columbus always seem to get more attention than Cincinnati? Why do people think it's such a greater city than Cincinnati? I know the actual city of Columbus itself is larger than Cincinnati proper. But are things in Columbus really that much better? Why is it growing so much more than Cincinnati? What is its allure to people from other states who think about moving to Ohio?

P.S. Please note, I'm not trying to put down Columbus. I just don't understand why certain places such as Indianapolis, Louisville and Columbus seem to get more favorable attention in the national media, while Cincinnati always seems to be the butt of jokes. Even before the riots and crime problems started, people in the country used to make fun of Cincinnati, and it gets old. What do we have to do to change that?

[MABCle]

Part of it may be that Columbus and Indy have a perception of being up and coming moreso than their neighbors like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and even Chicago. Part of that has to do with their growth rates and people percieve that as a city that's on the move.

[Subway]

First of all, I agree with what MABCle said. However, another reason I think that the national media has been down on Cincy for a long time is that Cincy is viewed as being ultra-conservative, unlike the vast majority of major cities. IMHO, the national media has a strong liberal bias, so it's only natural for them to bash the 'nati.

BTW, in terms of metro area growth, Cincy's (4.7% from 2000-2006) isn't that bad when compared to Columbus' (7%).

[SynMelRN2007]

Cinti is very conservative and boring. Enough said Cincinnati doesn't have enough culture to offer. This is the reason more ppl are choosing to relocate to other thriving cities. I like Columbus better and I live in Cinti....but relocating this year to a more thriving city and state

[dyt937]

Originally Posted by SynMelRN2007

Cinti is very conservative and boring. Enough said Cincinnati doesn't have enough culture to offer. This is the reason more ppl are choosing to relocate to other thriving cities. I like Columbus better and I live in Cinti....but relocating this year to a more thriving city and state

very wrong very wrong

[OHBuckeye]

Originally Posted by SynMelRN2007

Cinti is very conservative and boring. Enough said Cincinnati doesn't have enough culture to offer. This is the reason more ppl are choosing to relocate to other thriving cities. I like Columbus better and I live in Cinti....but relocating this year to a more thriving city and state

Puh-leeese! Cincy (as well as other 'older' cities such as Cleveland and Pittsburgh) has much more culture to offer than Columbus...unless your idea of culture is college bars! Yes, the Columbus area is growing faster than the Cincy area, but the Cincy area is growing...the Census Bureau estimated that the metro area gained 94,586 people from April 2000 to July 2006. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/cb07-51tbl2.pdf (broken link)

[ajf131]

Columbus and Indy always seemed to me like those in the middle cities between their bigger Midwestern neighbors like Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. I think they like to serve as "moderators and peacekeepers" to help improve relations between the bigger Midwestern cities surrounding them, which i mentioned in the first sentence. This is all just a theory btw I do know however that without Indy, Indiana's western half may as well be claimed by Illinois and its eastern half by Ohio.

[NewToCA]

Although Columbus isn't quite Cincinnati's size, it has a much smaller slum area. I think that this may play into the perceptions of the city. In addition, Ohio completely benefits from the Columbus metro area, while Cinci is split between two states.

[Pathwalker]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Although Columbus isn't quite Cincinnati's size, it has a much smaller slum area. I think that this may play into the perceptions of the city. In addition, Ohio completely benefits from the Columbus metro area, while Cinci is split between two states.

That's an interesting point. The portion of Cincinnati's metro area that is actually within Ohio is most likely smaller than the Columbus metro area - which is entirely within Ohio. Maybe that's what they look at.

[OHBuckeye]

Originally Posted by WCRob

That's an interesting point. The portion of Cincinnati's metro area that is actually within Ohio is most likely smaller than the Columbus metro area - which is entirely within Ohio. Maybe that's what they look at.

The portion of the Cincy metro area that is actually within Ohio (1,616,588) is a little smaller than the Columbus metro area (1,725,570). 59,833 of the 94,586 population gain that the Cincy metro area experienced from 2000-2006 was in the Ohio portion.